cat dander

[mlededee]

one of my cats, phoebie, has horrible dandruff. she always has to some extent but it tends to come and go. she is such the little princess--sensitive to everything, and i think even stress makes her dandruff flare. she sees the vet once a year for shots and a checkup, at which time he takes blood to check her liver/kidneys/etc. and this always comes back fine.

i noticed today that her dandruff is flaring again so i started to comb her, at which point i realized this is the worst, most ridiculous, case she has ever had. she's a black cat, and by the time i finished combing her it looked like an entire container of baby powder had been poured over her. there have been no changes in her diet, laundry detergents, litter, or anything else new or different lately that i can think of that would have caused this latest flare.

i have tried different shampoos and supplements, some of which seemed to help at the time, some not, but it always comes back. is there something that i can give her continuously in order to help remedy the dander issue? she doesn't act like her skin in itchy or sensitive, it's just SO flaky. i read a few places that supplementing with fatty acids, like fish oil and omega 3 a few times a week is helpful and i think i'm going to give that a try. does anyone else have any suggestions?

[SatanicIntention]

What kind of diet is she on? Science Diet makes a Sensitive Skin formula that we use with our two dogs(who have horrible allergies) and it's done wonders. We also give them a liqui-gel of the Super Omega Complex every day. It has Flax seed oil, Omega 3s, omega 6s and omega 9s, borage oil, etc. Great for their skin, they just need alot of it(over 1000mg per day) to be able to absorb enough and use it.


I would get some of those caplets, pop one of them and put it on her food every morning. She should like it being that they are fairly fishy smelling.

Oh, and if she doesn't mind baths, get some of that Mane N Tail Conditioner and leave it on her for 5-10 minutes. That stuff is AWESOME. You can even leave it on them. They will look a little greasy for awhile, but it soaks in and leaves them SO soft. Just wonderful for their skin and ours

[mlededee]

she eats purina one for sensitive systems because she has a sensitive tummy and throws up a lot of other types of foods, especially if she eats it on an empty stomach. i have to leave food out all day for her to nibble on so she doesn't eat too much at once and get sick (she is a petite kitty and does tend to nibble here and there rather than just gobbling whatever is in the dish). this food is supposed to help dry skin too, but obviously it hasn't in her case.

she hates baths but i'm willlng to make her (and me) suffer through them in order to try something to help her skin. i'll get some of the mane n tail and see how it does.

do you get the liqui-gel super omega complex at a drugstore? she is terribly picky about everything but i'm betting if i pour it on some wet food that she'll eat it.

[SatanicIntention]

Yep! You can get it at Wally World and it's about $6 for 60 caplets. Our dogs love them and will even pop the caplet themselves and scarf it down.

Has she ever been on anything for the tummy problems? I know we used to prescribe alot of Pepcid for cats with "urping" problems It works great for them, especially if they have IBS(irritable bowel)

[mlededee]

awesome, thanks!

we've never put phoebie on any meds for her tummy, since switching to this food seemed to do the trick. every once in a while now she'll still throw up if she eats too fast on a mostly empty tummy or something like that, but that's maybe once per month instead of every day like before.

[mlededee]

well, phoebie had a mane n' tail conditioner bath last night (much to her displeasure!). i was only mildly injured (my fault for not replacing her missing nail caps BEFORE the bath. she is already looking better and smells oh so nice.

i emptied the contents of one of the super omega caplets into her dish along with a few treat to see if she'd eat it plain like that--she sniffed, took one lick and said, "eew gross, i'm not eating that!" so nigel waltzed up and quite happily scarfed it all down. phoebie had some yummy wet food with the caplet ingredients poured over it instead. such a princess!

[SatanicIntention]

Haha! Aww, well good for her and you(not your arms though, I'm sure). I hope she starts feeling better and isn't itchy and dry-skinned.